Tension
by katiekayx
Summary: Lincoln and Olivia have been dancing around each other for long enough. Oneshot, Leeham. Rated for a bit of language, nothing too bad though. Please review if you read!


**A/N: **_Hello, all. So, I've been on a writing kick lately, which means you're in luck! I have another one shot for you. This is also due partly to the fact that I am procrastinating writing my Ethics midterm :')_

_This is the usual Leeham, but I've decided to take a different route with it because I feel like I've been writing the same ending for the last two oneshots I've done._

**Disclaimer:**_Again, I don't own any of the characters or anything else Fringe related. I do, however, own this plot._

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><p>Lincoln was in one of his moods again, Olivia noticed. She studied him from across the room where she was sitting at her desk in Fringe HQ. She noticed him furiously typing on his computer and wondered what had gotten him so wound up.<p>

The last few weeks had been difficult. She had only returned to work a few days ago, but she and Lincoln had been spending lots of time together after her son was born. He was perfect with kids, and she smirked thinking about how smug he got when, after hours of both her and Charlie trying to get the baby to sleep, Lincoln could do it in a matter of minutes.

Lately, though, there was a weird tension between the two of them. She hadn't tried to discuss with him what had happened when the baby was born. She was a little scared to, if she told herself the truth. She often didn't tell herself the truth though, because of her incredibly stubborn nature, so she shrugged off the feeling and hadn't brought it up at all.

She looked back up at Lincoln's office and saw that he was looking right at her, an intense look written on his face. She shuddered and immediately looked down, not wanting him to know that he could affect her that way. Something was going on between the two of them, but she didn't know what, and she wasn't particularly sure she wanted to find out.

"You alright Liv?" Charlie asked her, and she looked at him, a fake smile already plastered on her face.

"Yeah, just not used to being here yet, you know? I keep expecting to have to check on the baby…" She trailed off, noticing that Lincoln was looking her way again.

Charlie followed her line of vision and rolled his eyes, "What's his deal? You guys talk yet?"

She stiffened, "Talk about what?"

"I don't know," Charlie gave her a look, "about whatever it is that's making him in a permanent bad mood and whatever is making you such an awful liar…" He trailed off and winked at her, seeing the look on her face, "Relax. I'm not going to say anything, or do anything… I'm just looking out for you, you know. And him."

Olivia relaxed visibly. "I know," she said, slumping in her chair, "I just can't figure out what's wrong with him. I've tried talking to him, but he's so hard to read these days."

Charlie nodded, "Just be honest with him. Maybe if you open up, he'll do the same."

"Easier said than done." Olivia muttered, looking up to see that Lincoln was back at work, on the phone this time, his back to the rest of the department. She sighed and looked back down at her case paperwork and Charlie turned back around to try and be productive.

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><p>He had been staring at her all day and knew that she noticed. He was so glad to finally have her back at work, and just relishing in the fact that she was healthy. It was taking everything he had to assign her to cases again, because just when she was back in one piece, he was afraid something would happen to her again.<p>

She was their best agent, without a doubt, and he couldn't afford to take her off field duty, not to mention that she'd kick his ass if he did. Plus, there was added weight from the Secretary on his shoulders, always asking if she was okay and calling to "check up" on her and the baby. He didn't understand why Secretary Bishop wouldn't just call Olivia herself, but he took the calls nonetheless. He'd probably be fired if he didn't.

He risked looking up one more time, and saw that she was talking with Charlie. He seemed to be poking fun at her, but despite the smile on her face, he could see past it. She was faking it. Something was bothering her, and he knew that he probably played a part in that. He had been avoiding her when he wasn't helping with the baby, trying so hard to get any more attached to her than he already was.

It was hard, when he was in as deep as he was. He loved her. She knew that, but had yet to acknowledge it, and so he had no idea where he stood with her, besides her friend and her boss. He had helped a lot with the baby over the last few weeks, like he promised he would, but other than that, there was no interaction going on.

She looked up at him then, and for a minute he didn't look away. Their eyes were locked until she looked down. For a second, he thought he saw something there, something that ignited a little flame of hope. On the other hand, he didn't _want_ to get his hopes up, so he looked back down at his desk and continued with his work.

He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up.

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><p>They had just finished for the day, and Olivia had barely gotten out of a tricky situation without getting her arm cut off. She was left with a few scratches and needed to get stitches, and was just mad. She was mad because she had gotten distracted, and that's the only reason she didn't notice the roof collapsing of that warehouse sooner. If she would have been more alert, she thought, she would have gotten out of there scratch-free.<p>

Now, she was in the medic's room getting patched up, and she heard loud voices coming from the hallway.

"How is this my fault?" She recognized Charlie's deep voice.

"I told you to keep an eye on her, I told you to watch out for her." Lincoln. Olivia shut her eyes briefly, both angered and touched by his words. She didn't need to be looked after like a child, but she knew that he was only doing it because he cared. It still hurt to hear that he might not be 100% confident in her capabilities anymore.

"Look, you've got something going on that's making you extra moody lately and I've let you just get by with it," Charlie kept going, "but as your friend, I'm not going to let you keep treating everyone like this. If you were just my boss, it'd be none of my business. But you need to get your shit together, Linc." Charlie said very quickly and firmly, and Olivia was kind of shocked. "I don't know what's bothering you, and you haven't tried to talk to me about it, so I'm not going to pry. But when it comes to blaming your team for things they had no control over, that's where I draw the line."

Olivia heard footsteps going the other way, and assumed it was Charlie walking away. She was surprised when Lincoln came storming into the room, scaring the nurse and causing her to slip up with the needle. "Shit," Olivia hissed, and the nurse froze.

"I'm so sorry!" She said immediately, and blushed a deep red.

"It's not your fault," Olivia said quickly, and looked at Lincoln, "What the hell are you thinking, barging in here like that!"

"What were _you_ thinking back there, Liv?"

"Excuse me?" Olivia's anger flared. First for the way Lincoln had been acting all week, then because of him blaming Charlie for her getting hurt. Now he was questioning her ability and even though she knew she had been distracted, it was another thing for him to barge in here and start questioning her.

"You could have been killed. Do you understand that? You could have been killed!"

"I know that, Lincoln. But I'm fine."

"You're getting stitches." He threw her a look.

"Well I _was_ getting stitches, until you barged in here, and then it turned into just being stabbed by a needle."

The nurse blushed again. "Sorry." Olivia muttered.

Lincoln stared at her, an intense expression once again on his face, and tried to figure out what the hell to do. Should he be honest with her and tell her what was bothering her, or keep it to himself? He figured she already had enough on her mind.

"You should go apologize to Charlie." Olivia said, while she was getting up and getting her arm wrapped up by the nurse.

"You heard all that?"

"Yep," Olivia said, rolling her eyes, "I don't know why it is you two can't grasp the concept that when you yell at each other, generally other people can hear you."

Lincoln's jaw tensed as he tried to stay calm. She had just gotten hurt, that's the only reason why she was picking a fight with him right now. "I just wanted him to look out for you. You've only been back in the field for a few days."

"I don't need to be looked after, Lincoln." She said, her eyes flashing at him. The nurse was done with her now, and Olivia brushed past him to get out of the room. He followed her, walking swiftly to catch up.

"I don't understand what's so wrong about it! In fact, I think I was doing you a favor! Maybe if he had listened to me, you wouldn't have gotten hurt."

Olivia stopped short, nearly causing Lincoln to fall when he bumped into her. She turned around quickly. "Why don't you just tell me what's really bothering you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Bullshit. You've been acting weird ever since I came back to work. We're a team, Lincoln, we have been for a long time. Looking after one another is second nature, you don't need to give Charlie _orders_ to do that. There's something different going on here, and you won't tell any of us."

Lincoln looked down at the ground, refusing to give in. "There's nothing on, okay?"

"I don't believe you. But whatever you say, boss." She said before walking away, Lincoln hot on her heels.

" I don't get it," He continued once they got outside. He was in front of her now, walking backwards. She was looking at anything but him, an annoyed expression on her face, "You're really mad at me for asking him to look after you? Christ, Liv, I would think you'd be grateful."

Her eyes snapped back to his, "I'm not going to be grateful because you're treating me like a child! I've been doing this as long as you have, and you're treating me like a rookie!"

"I'm not treating you any different!" Lincoln said, the tick in his jaw working furiously as he stared at her.

"Yes you are! I don't know what your problem is, but this needs to stop. You've been in a bad mood for weeks and you're taking it out on everyone else, especially Charlie and I."

"I'm not doing that."

"I'm not going to argue with you any more Lincoln. Maybe you're just tired. Go home, get some sleep. If I knew it bothered you so much to help out with the baby, I wouldn't have asked you to do it." She tried to get past him, but he grabbed her wrist before she could walk any further.

"Hey. You know I care about him as much as you do. I don't have a problem helping you out."

"Then what is it?" Olivia threw her arms up in frustration, "and for once, be honest with me, Linc!"

"Fine!" Lincoln yelled, "Fine! I'm afraid you're going to get hurt. Or killed, okay? You just got back to work after being kidnapped and you almost died, Liv! I'm not going to let that happen again. Not while I'm around to look after you!"

"I didn't ask you to do that!" She yelled back, "I don't need you to do that."

He took three large steps toward her before speaking quietly, but slowly. "_I_ need to do this, Olivia. I _need_ to make sure you're safe. I can't let you get hurt again."

Olivia's face softened when she saw the determination in his eyes. "That's what's been bothering you? Just the fact that I'm back in the field?"

His head drooped. "To be honest? No, that's not just it."

"Tell me. You can tell me, Linc." Olivia said softly, and he looked deep into her eyes before taking a deep breath and continuing.

"I don't know where I stand with you, Liv."

"Lincoln that's ridic-"

He held up a hand to stop her, "No, let me finish. In China Town, I was scared for your life, and your baby's life, and I just… I couldn't help from telling you what I did. I wasn't lying, Liv. I love you. I have for a long time, but it took me until then to say it, and now… Now I don't know what's going on. I sleep on your couch some nights, I help you take care of your baby, none of which I have a problem with," He quickly added, seeing the hurt look on her face, "But I need to know what you're thinking. It's killing me to see you at work every day and pretend that things are normal when all I can think about is whether you have feelings for me or not."

He let his arms fall to his sides, having just put his heart on the line for her to either crush, or embrace. He wasn't expecting her to say that she loved him back; he knew that was way too farfetched. But he had seen the look she was giving him earlier at work, and he couldn't squash that little bit of hope that had made its way into his heart.

"Why didn't you just ask me?" She asked quietly, making him jump. She had moved closer to him, and he was nervous. "I could have done without this whole you're-moody-and-taking-it-out-on-everyone-else thing."

He smiled despite being so nervous, "You never tell a girl you like her, it makes you look like an idiot." He said and felt him smile growing as she laughed.

"Don't be ridiculous." She said, "How else are you supposed to know that she likes you back?" She asked, looking up at him, all signs of joking gone.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, Linc, that you need to be honest with me more often. I can't tell you that I love you. It's too soon. But you're always there for me, and I can't forget everything you've done for me." Lincoln let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding as she went on, "And to be honest? Before I was back at work and you'd leave in the morning? I'd miss you a little bit."

He grinned at her, "So what, you have a crush on me? Is that what you're telling me?"

"Shut up." She said, but the smile was still on her face. And this wasn't the fake one from earlier that Lincoln had noticed. This was a real smile, and the first real smile out of her that he'd seen in a while. He had missed it. "I have to go home… the baby." She said, trailing off and looking down at the ground.

Lincoln reached out and grabbed her hand, "I'm going to go with you." He said softly, looking her dead in the eyes. "I told you before, there's no place else for me to be."

Olivia looked like she might cry again, and it would have freaked Lincoln out if she hadn't quickly taken his face in her hands and pressed her lips against his. She let out a small sign and Lincoln slung an arm around her waist to pull her closer. His other hand delved into her hair. There was fire in this kiss, and he struggled to not resort to caveman tactics and haul her over the shoulder back to the car, so they could get back to her apartment.

Instead, he broke away from her slowly, trying to catch his breath, and he noticed that she was doing the same. "I'm sorry…" She said, and he quickly cut her off.

"No, no. Don't apologize. Don't ever apologize for that."

Olivia smiled and Lincoln grinned at her, his hand never leaving hers.

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><p><strong>What do we think? Ending to cheesy? I hope not! Reviews are lovely... -hint-<strong>


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